A rare book telling the story of a young man who sells his soul in a bargain whereby he stops ageing has been returned to a library after having been taken out in 1934.
The tome in question is a valuable first edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the novel written by noted 19th-century writer, wit and theatrical luvvie Oscar …

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No offence to Stephen Fry

But Oscar Wilde was a bit more than the Stephen Fry of his time.

Similar mannerisms and proclivities, but to my knowledge Stephen Fry has yet to pen any works that reach worldwide acclaim or which will still be commonly referenced in popular culture long after his death.

Re: No offence to Stephen Fry

Re: No offence to Stephen Fry

@Bernard Re: "No offence to Stephen Fry"

I have admit that although I have enjoyed a great deal of Fry's work as a comedian I cannot dispute what you say. Wilde's talents were considerable including a mastery of the epigram, what we perhaps might today often be tempted to call "the soundbite". He was a past master at summing up a socio-political point he wanted to make whilst making it extremely funny. In the hope that no techies from the Countryside Alliance are going to log on and hose me, I feel that his description of fox hunting as "the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable" is an example of an absolute mastery of encapsulating a point in one sentence and cracking a very funny joke at the same time.

Re: It's not what you know....

Re: It's not what you know....

I don't think he was in Experiment IV but Hugh Laurie and Dawn French were.

As an aside, Kate Bush seems to be working her way through the cast of Blackadder in terms of collaborations - Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson, and Stephen Fry the latest.

Re: Hmmm...

Wow, and I thought I was a record holder

for late library books.

While clearing out an old storage shed a couple of years ago, I discovered a copy of Wind In The Willows that I'd borrowed from the local library as a primary school kid in 1977 and forgotten to return. I also was trepidatious about the late fees, but I reckoned if the library tried to hit me up for that many times the book's value I could make enough of a song and dance about it in the local media that I'd most likely get away with it.

So I took it back, explaining to the librarian how I'd borrowed it as a primary school kid back in 1977 and forgotten to return it. She was so gobsmacked that she simply waived the late fees - which we computed just out of interest; adjusted for inflation it came to $955.50 AUD (for our UK readers, about £620.) The librarian said it had to be the latest book she'd ever seen returned - 33 years, although she was quite young and had only worked there for 4 years. The fact that I'd checked the book out 10 years before she was even born was a point of amusement for both of us!

In fact, the book wasn't even in the system any more, and hadn't been for years. Obviously it had been written off as lost decades ago, and since then the system had changed so many times any record of it was long since gone. The librarian had to enter it into the system as a new acquisition.

But yeah, I reckon 1934 beats my 1977 by a fair old chalk. Kudos to that woman!

Re: Wow, and I thought I was a record holder

That's the kind of feelgood story I would have expected would have made an appearance in the local free paper, if only for the sakes of advertising the existence of the local library. It would have taken up half a column along with the obligatory picture of you handing over the book sheepishly 33 years late to an annoyed looking librarian pointing to a calendar.

@ Fibbles

Absolutely agree on that point, but I suppose there is reason for it...

You see, the "local" library is in town, and my parents' house is in (what was then) the outer suburbs, and I was in grade 6 at the time, so as you can imagine I required Mum and Dad's Taxi Service to get me in and out of town. By the time I was old enough to go into town by myself I was more interested in discos and girls than libraries and books. After that I got into computers (which wasn't good for my interest in girls or books!), and the rest, as they say, is history.

But you're right, of course, and I'll try to make a bit more of an effort to visit the library in future. If only because it's something different to do!

Re: Another vote for Wilde

Re: Another vote for Wilde

Everybody likes to mock Katie Price but she's attained a lifestyle and wealth most of us can only dream of. And, whilst she may not be a MENSA candidate, she's certainly more intelligent than she lets on. I say kudos to her. She's worked to get to where she is today and it's a shame she gets lumped in with the likes of Paris Hilton who appears to be famous for nothing other than being born to a rich family.

probably preserved it better than the library would have

I'd posit that losing the book was the best way to preserve it.

I don't know about other libraries, but ours turns over a large portion of the collection every year. A book like this may not have been determined to be a classic for quite a while, at which time most of the copies would have been lost, sold off, or destroyed.

And many books that seem to turn up most valuable or rare may be because they were deemed crap at the time, and just generally thrown out. When the one or two stragglers that were forgotten about show up they're valuable.